From The Times
April 7, 2008

# Tibet: Chinese police wound 10 demonstrators at Lingque temple 3694762

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Jane Macartney in Beijing

Chinese paramilitary police have opened fire on a crowd of angry Tibetans, wounding about 10 people who were protesting against limits on a prayer ceremony and demanding the return of the Dalai Lama, witnesses said.

The violence erupted on Saturday in a remote town high in the mountains of western Sichuan province where monks at the Lingque temple had been joined by several hundred pilgrims for an annual ceremony known as the Torgya at which lamas exorcise evil elements from society.

One witness said police appeared to grow anxious about the growing crowd in a region of China that has been rocked for more than two weeks by demonstrations since a riot on March 14 in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, when mobs stabbed and stoned ethnic Han Chinese and set fire to hundreds of shops and offices, leaving at least 18 people dead.

At around midday, security forces ordered a halt to the ceremony, which traditionally involves a procession of monks carrying a pyramid-shaped offering topped with a skull that is taken outside the monastery and then burnt to rid the area of evil spirits.

The demonstrators, including some 400 nomads who had ridden in on horseback from surrounding pastures to take part, refused to leave. The crowd included monks, local residents, students and even civil servants wearing dust masks over their mouths as a rudimentary means to conceal their identity, one witness said.

The standoff between the crowd shouting “Give us freedom,” “Free Tibet,” and “Let the Dalai Lama come home” and the police outside the temple lasted for several hours. At one point the police opened fire to try to disperse the protesters and about 10 people were wounded.

One local resident told The Times: “The police opened fire. We could hear it. But I haven’t heard about any of the people throwing stones at the security forces.”

The U.S.-government sponsored Radio Free Asia reported that the wounded were taken into custody by the security forces. It quoted a witness as saying: “The monks called the head of Daofu county and warned that if those detained weren’t released, all the monks would continue protesting even if it meant they would be killed. So the county chief released those who were injured and detained.”

Another source identified the three most seriously wounded men as Tsewang, Dondrup and Gyatsen and said they had reportedly been taken to hospital in the provincial capital, Chengdu, for treatment.

Witnesses said the demonstrations finally ended at about 5.00 pm. Officials said order had been restored around the monastery. It is one of the most important in the region and was founded in 1662 by a disciple of the Fifth Dalai Lama.

The perstistent unrest underscores the challenge facing the Chinese authorities as they try to end almost a month of protests across the Tibetan region and the depth of anti-Chinese sentiment among a deeply Buddhist minority loyal to the exiled Dalai Lama. Late last week in Donggu, also in the sprawling Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, paramilitary forces opened fire on protesters after a government official was seriously wounded, killing eight people, witnesses said.

In a strongly worded statement from his home in exile in the Indian town of Dharamsala, the Dalai Lama said the recent demonstrations were “outbursts of long pent-up physical and mental anguish” that proved most Tibetans want freedom from Chinese rule. He said Tibetans felt deep resentment against the suppression of their rights.

But he voiced his support for the Olympic games and said Tibetans should not try to disrupt them. “It will be futile and not helpful to anyone if we do something that will created hatred in the minds of the Chinese people.”

The Communist Party boss of Tibet said the region was now stable, but called for vigilance to prevent possible plots to sabotage the torch relay when it arrives in the Himalayan region. China plans to take the Olympic torch to Tibet twice. One torch will be taken up Mount Everest, the world's tallest peak, in early May, while the regular torch will pass through Lhasa in June.

Tibet Party Secretary Zhang Qingli urged people in the region to “deepen their drive to complete the glorious, important and arduous task" of having the torch pass through Tibet.

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